He lifts his head when she speaks, glad of something else to think about. It's worse, far worse, than what Jack did and what he became, but it's not his grief. It's removed, it's not stabbing him in the heart over and over. He knows that makes him sound callous, but it is the truth of the matter.

"It's something I don't think anyone else could understand unless they lived it too. I can't even imagine all the different ways that hurt. And no one could blame you for shielding yourself from that hurt."

"And no one would be prouder than you than your family. For doing this now. It doesn't matter if you could have done it before, it wasn't right for you to do it then. You were taking care of yourself. And like you said they love you. They understand its been hard."

He looks back to the whiskey, and nods, smiling slightly.

"It's a long road. I think whoever it's meant for will be glad of a drink at the end of it."